Italy

frolics in this food, fashion and family-centric country.

Taste Florence

08/05/2011 | 6 Comments | Topics: frolics., Italy

While spending a few days in Florence (mid-July), I had the opportunity to enjoy a 4 hour food tour with Antoinette from Taste Florence. … [more]
Having lived in Florence for 9 months with my family (Aug 2009 – June 2010), I have decidedly favorite food spots including: walking across the Ponte Vecchio (bridge across Arno River) for a honey-lined croissant or strolling to my favorite ‘frutta e verdure’ to buy fresh

Morelli Pasta

07/26/2011 | 7 Comments | Topics: davinci wine, food., frolics., Italian food & wine, Italy

Morelli Pasta.
When I am lucky enough to be traveling in Italy (I just returned from a trip sponsored by DaVinci Wines… [more]; it was fantastic and then some!), it doesn’t take long for me to start craving pasta daily.
I am not sure why this doesn’t happen when I am home (Seattle, WA, USA); but in Italy, my internal ‘dinner bell’ ushers in a craving for ‘a plate of

Vinci Italy: Day 5.

07/14/2011 | 12 Comments | Topics: davinci wine, frolics., Italy

I cannot believe it is the last day. On the one hand, this DaVinci Storyteller Experience has flown by. On the other: we are full to the gills with stories, wine, memories, pictures, wine, inside jokes, brilliant ‘field trips’, wine, rich content and a lifelong affection for Vinci, Italy. As I write this, we are just an hour shy of our last evening together: all four DaVinci Wine Storytellers… [more]

Vinci Italy: Day 3.

07/13/2011 | 1 Comment | Topics: davinci wine, frolics., Italy, wine

Late nights, early mornings, Tuscan sunshine and one adventure after another. This must be what it feels like to straddle the gap between the dream world and reality?
I adore starting each day on the terrace, enjoying espresso, spreading preserves over fresh bread, eating Toscano meats and cheeses—plus a few sweet bites of pastry.
We shoved off around 8:30 am for Montalcino (about a 2 hour drive; so worth it).… [more]

Vinci Italy: Day 2.

07/11/2011 | 5 Comments | Topics: davinci wine, frolics., Italy

Today was all about Vinci’s Chianti (need a Chianti primer?).

Day 2 of our DaVinci Wine Storyteller journey greeted us with breakfast on the terrace, a walking tour with agronomist Andrea Meini (where we learned hoards of information on vineyards, the Montalbano region of Chianti… [more] and its micro-climate, and the passion and teamwork that go into the DaVinci Cooperative) and a tour of Leonardo da Vinci’s birth home.

Vinci Italy: Day 1.

07/11/2011 | 3 Comments | Topics: davinci wine, frolics., Italy

Wow what a whirlwind!
I am in Vinci, Italy, after Seattle to NY to Rome to Florence flights. Myself and 3 other Storytellers are sharing 6 days in this Tuscan town—compliments of DaVinci Wines. It is such an overwhelmingly fantastic opportunity; I type this at a tiny desk, looking at an Italian hillside… just 15 minutes prior to our first wine tasting. I am sure my lack of sleep will… [more]

Thank you DaVinci Wine: of COURSE I WILL COME TO ITALY!!

06/22/2011 | 20 Comments | Topics: davinci wine, frolics., Italy, wine

Today DaVinci wine announced the four winners of their Storyteller Contest; winners will travel to Vinci, Italy, for a week in July to absorb every last detail of Vinci: the people, culture and [wine] cooperative—and to sip countless drops of DaVinci wines.
I am humbled, in awe and BEYOND TALK that I have been CHOSEN TO GO TO VINCI, ITALY—courtesy of DaVinci Wines.
Please go and say thank you … [more]

August, like the Italians.

08/01/2010 | 10 Comments | Topics: frolics., Italy, just talk

Pinch me… am I really doing this? Applying Italian mentality to the month of August? We lived in Italy for the better part of a year (our family blogged all about it on familyfrolics… [more]—our family blog). And watched their routines and absorbed their rhythms. After almost 9 months of being there, I started to live differently: I wasn’t filling my entire trunk with Costco food, but instead walking daily

Dario the Butcher (and me!)

06/08/2010 | 5 Comments | Topics: frolics., Italy

Yeah, you heard me: DARIO. As in D-A-R-I-O of Panzano, Italy… [more]. Did you read HEAT? Mario Batali’s book? Its bright yellow and exposes the underbelly of restaurant kitchens—trust me, you would remember it if you read it.

Anyway… ‘Dario the Butcher’ is in the book, he was a main cast member who influenced and trained Mario. And I went to see him. I saw his butcher shop and ate

5 places to eat lunch in Florence, Italy

05/11/2010 | 5 Comments | Topics: frolics., Italian food & wine, Italy

Here, a list and little blurb about 5 restaurants I would go back to for lunch…. oh yeah! I already have!
1. ZEB… [more] or zuppa e bollito is located in the San Niccolo quadrant of the city (Oltrarno). You can point and shoot: literally piece-meal your lunch together by selecting from the meats, cheeses, sides, soups, entrees and dessert made just that day. One day I went and had